15/11/2022
MALE FACTOR: AZOOSPERMIA, PART 2
Generally, there are two types of azoos***mia:
1️⃣ Obstructive, characterized by the ejaculatory duct obstruction;
2️⃣ Non-obstructive, characterized by few s***m cells developing in the testicles.
With the first type, s***m cells develop in the testicles but cannot be transported out of them. With the second type, s***m cells fail to develop at all, but there are still some areas in the testicles where singular s***m cells can be found.
To determine the kind of azoos***mia, one has to undergo a wide range of tests. However, it is not always possible to tell if the patient has obstructive or non-obstructive azoos***mia.
In most cases, patients with azoos***mia will need to undergo an open testicular biopsy - it is a surgical extraction of s***m cells from the testicular tissue.
The acquired s***m cells should be either applied in an IVF-ICSI cycle right away or cryopreserved (frozen). Surgical extraction of s***m cells from the testicular tissue for diagnostic purposes is strongly forbidden as it is not always possible to find new s***m cells during the following surgery.
